Solar Panels Removed

I spent two days at Fremantle with the modest goal of removing the 65 watt solar panels that had served me faithfully for 9 years.  I achieved that and was able to begin exploiting opportunities that presented themselves.

On Friday afternoon I visited the boat and disconnected the solar panels, documenting the wiring and taking great care to avoid damaging them, because Stephen was looking forward to  my gift of the panels and controller.  I then used an 11 mm and a small adjustable spanner to loosen each of the 6 small bolts  holding down each panel. 

Frame after removal of bimini and solar panels.  Note rusty Rutland tail.

While doing that work I noted how much easier it would be to remove the rusting tail of the Rutland wind charger now that the panels and bimini were out  of the way, allowing me to work from inside of the boat rather than hanging from  the stern of the boat as I had been forced to do in Argentina.  And ah, oh yes, I would now be able to clean the connection of the HF radio antenna cable above the frame, about two meters up the backstay.  These would be what Arnold would term "piggy back" jobs which would provide great yield at the cost of a modest lengthening of the solar panel  project.

Before leaving the boat I lashed down the panels with rope.  The wind was gusty and I hoped that it would be calmer the next day because otherwise I would have to postpone the removal.

I arrived at the boat at about 9 AM on Saturday morning and by the time Stephen arrived at 10 AM there were only two partially loosened screws holding down each panel and they were ready for extraction. The gang plank was in place for easy movement between the boat and the side finger jetty.  The wind had calmed down to a steady breeze. 

The planning and preparation went well because the operation went like clockwork.  We slide each panel forward off the frame then carried it to my X-Trail.  Two  hours later Stephen was on his way home in his car to await the arrival of the panels.

New Panel

Specifications

I returned that afternoon and spent several hours polishing the upper reaches of the cockpit stainless steel platform that were now easily accessible.

On Sunday morning I removed the tail of the Rutland wind charger.  This proved to be more difficult than I had expected because the area where the mild steel tail interfaced with the stainless steel shaft of the wind charger had swelled with corrosion and I had to work hard using liberal amounts of WD-40 and a hammer to break the seals.  Had I waited another year I would have been in big trouble with the removal.

Back home that afternoon I spent more than an hour using a wire brush on the angle grinder to remove the paint and rust from the mild steel tail then laid on a coat of Wattyl Killrust metal primer.

Rutland tail cleaned and primed

Different Solar Controller

I investigated on the net the Powertech MPPT solar controller that I had purchased and was disturbed by the adverse reviews.  I then did more investigation and began to wonder if I really wanted the latest MPPT rather than the older PWM technology. The issue was reliability.  It appeared to me that the MPPT techonogy involved a lot of clever technology that rendered, using my term, high-strung equipment that was more likely to fail than the staid old PWM equipment.  MPY was fine for $700 equipment, but would be OK for $250 equipment?

This afternoon I visited Jaycar requesting a refund and I explained to Daniel the manager my reasons. referring to my simple Arrid controller that had supported me through my 5-year circumnavigation through many gales and storms and was still working well.  I told him that far out at sea I valued reliability more than glitzy performance.   He conceded that PWM controllers are more reliable because they rely more on hardware and less on electronics.  After some discussions I agreed to have a look at the Powertech MP-3722 PWM controller and accepted it with a $40 refund.  The controller has only a 1-year warranty but Daniel told me that he would make things good beyond 1 year.

One advantage is that the PWM version is smaller than the MPPT version and might slot in physically nicely in place of the Arrid.

Back at the house I googlesnooped Powertech the company and found it to be a serious Taiwanese company of world wide stature.

Strapping Down the New Batteries

The batteries amidships in below the seats are strapped down with strong webbing from my old lifelines and for good measure a board securely fastened using hinges.  The batteries cannot slide around because they rest inside perimeters of wood.

Starboard Battery

Port Battery

Under the cockpit I was able to use the original strap down system but had to put rubber packing above the shorter Fullriver battery aft, under the autopilot linear arm.

Under Cockpit

Closeup under cockpit with Fullriver battery aft under linear arm

House Battery Bank Upgrade

During the Bunbury Cruise last February I was not happy with Pachuca's electrical power situation.  I had left Fremantle with all batteries fully charged and two days later found myself short of battery power and forced to run the engine about 1 hour per day to maintain the voltage.  I knew that the house bank's four 230 a/h gel batteries that had been installed  in New Zealand in 2008 were getting long in the tooth and I would have to face the prospect of replacing them.

During the cruise I mentioned my power situation while visiting friends aboard their modern 11.6m boat  and was surprised to hear that they never worried about battery power: they left the marina with a full charge and that was it.  From memory, they do not augment their voltage with solar panels or a wind charger.  That sealed it for me: I would replace the house batteries during the coming winter.

I got a break in March Brenda's when son Brenda's Stephen purchased a battery analyzer, something  that had seen only in the hands of professionals.  We used it to check the house batteries and got the following results:

1. Forward stern battery

13.42V, charge 98% , ir=16.6 m/ohm, CCA 180 amps, Health 0%, REPLACE

2. Aft stern battery

13.34V, charge 98%, ir 3.7 m/ohm, CCA 800 amps, health 18%, REPLACE

3. Starboard cabin battery

13.46V, charge 98%, ir 4.0 m/ohm, CCA 735 amps, health 15%, REPLACE

4. Port cabin battery

13.26V, charge 98%, ir 6.4 m/ohm, CCA 455 amps, health 06%, REPLACE

The batteries were basically dead and it was a wonder that I had gotten any life out of them at all.  I had known that the 9 year old batteries needed replacing but it was good to confirm this before embarking on the replacement project.

I then did some research on lithium batteries and although their Total Cost of Ownership is lower than that of other battery types I was not too impressed with the high initial investment and did not want to deal possible charging issues, so AGM batteries it would be.  The boat had been set up in New Zealand using great ingenuity for four large batteries and high (920 a/h) total capacity and I wanted to keep that configuration.  

Two problems remained: (1) finding AGM batteries of a similar size that would fit in the boat, (2) finding someone to remove the old batteries and fit the new ones.  The batteries weight in the order of 75 kg (165 lb) and I was not going to risk my back by moving the batteries myself.

Fortunately Battery World in O'Connor had just what I needed.  I purchased 3 x Century C12-270DA deep cycle 270 a/h AGM batteries and 1 x Fullriver DC210-12 210 a/h AGM battery.  The Fullriver battery was required because the Century batteries were slightly taller than the gel batteries they were replacing, and would not fit under the boat's autopilot linear drive ram (3 mm too high).  And of great value to me was that their personnel would handle all of the installation at no extra charge.  The Century batteries cost $715 each and the Fullriver battery cost $679 yielding a total price of $2824.  I purchased the batteries  on 1 May 2017 and they were installed three days later.

 

Gel batteries under cockpit ready for removal

Lifting one of the gel batteries

Gel battery being unloaded using the handy plank

Bringing new Century AGM battery on board

I later made two visits to the boat to strap down the batteries.  This required some design work because three of the new batteries were taller than the old ones.  Even though Pachuca never rolled or was even knocked down during the circumnavigation I felt that I should keep up the standard of the boat as fit for blue water cruising anywhere.

New starboard battery

New port battery

Pachuca now had 1020 a/h capacity in the house bank vs 920 a/h previously.

I was extremely pleased with the service provided by Noel Brennan and his team at Battery World, O'Connor.  They were great to deal with in the planning, and performed a flawless installation.  I also did a spot check on the Net of the prices of the batteries that I was purchasing and theirs were consistently the lowest.

 

Under cockpit: Century in front, Fullriver aft, under autopilot linear arm